No Way
by Reaching4thatplace
Summary: Natsu is about to graduate High School and Lucy is just one year behind. They are brought together at a wild party and soon realise they're both a part of each other's past. After a few dates in the bedroom, Lucy learns that she is pregnant. Join Lucy as her quiet, careful life unravels in to mayhem. Especially when her over protective brother returns home. Nalu all the way people
1. Getting To Know You

The music was loud, the alcohol was flowing and we were dancing like there was no tomorrow. This was the last chance any of us had to party before school started again on Monday and we weren't letting it go to waste. Every body was letting their hair down and no one was sober. Then I saw him. He was handsome, kind of bad at dancing and heading straight for me. I laughed as he approached and tried introducing himself over the music. "I can't hear you." I mouthed. He tried again but I still had no idea what he was saying. Maybe it was his cheeky grin or maybe it was the amount of alcohol I had consumed, but for what ever reason I threw caution to the wind and pulled him in for a kiss. He kissed me back, wrapping his arms around my waist, his fingers grabbing my dress. It was electric. We kissed like we needed each others lips to survive. I was breathless, lightheaded and desperate for his touch. I pulled away and grabbed his shirt, leading him through the crowd of people and upstairs to the spare bedroom. I fell back on to the bed, not even taking a second to think twice about what we were doing. He joined me on the bed and we were kissing again, removing each others clothes as we did. I was glad I had worn matching underwear that night. I laid back in to the pillows and ran my hands down his chiselled chest as he sat himself between my legs, his hands resting on my thighs. I would never normally be so reckless to have sex with a stranger, but there was something about that night. About that party. I felt on top of the world, like nothing could go wrong. I just remember how handsome he was, looking down at me with a small smile. Sure, it was irresponsible but I'd have plenty of time to be responsible once we returned to school. So, I just enjoyed the night we spent together. Parties don't last forever though and neither does the feeling of invincibility that comes with them. Soon, morning comes knocking on your door to bring you the gift of a hefty hangover and embarrassing flashbacks. If you're lucky, you'll wake up in your own bed. But, if you're like me and luck tends to leave you in the lurch most of the time, you'll wake up in a different house all together. I sat up, wincing at the pain that was searing through my head, and pulled back the covers. The handsome stranger was gone. I grabbed my underwear from the floor, trying not to feel too disappointed that I woke up alone, slipped it back on and began the hunt for my dress and shoes. After five minutes of shuffling around on the floor I finally found my dress under the bed, along with my shoes. Before I left the room I quickly checked the night stand in case my handsome stranger had left his number for me, but he hadn't. I sighed heavily and tried not to feel embarrassed or used as I made my way down stairs. I tried not to wake any of the passed out teens that were laying about the place as I tiptoed my way to the door and let myself out. It was a long and somewhat shameful walk home, but it gave me time to reflect on the events from the night before. Although the way I behaved was extremely unlike me, I didn't regret any of it. Sometimes it feels good to go a little crazy and act completely outside your comfort zone. Not always, but sometimes.

As soon as I got home I hopped in bath and let the warm water wash over me. Tomorrow I would be back at school and summer would be officially over. But for the next twenty hours or so, I was still free. After my bath I rang Levy, my best friend. "Are you as hungover as I am?" Levy asked as soon as she picked up the phone. "I'd say so. Although my brisk walk home this morning helped." I said.

"Wait, you mean you didn't go home last night?" Levy asked, suddenly sounding a lot more awake.

"Nope." I grinned, not that she could see me.

"What happened? I thought you'd left before me." Levy said.

"Well, I may have slept with a handsome stranger in the spare room." I said, trying to hold back a laugh. Levy gasped, loudly.

"Oh. My. God. Lucy Heartfilia that is so unlike you." Levy said.

"I know, I know. It was just one night though. Now I am completely back to my boring, careful self." I said, wondering downstairs to get a snack.

"You're not boring." Levy said.

"Yeah, right." I laughed.

"So, you don't know who it was?" Levy asked.

"No." I said.

"Do you remember what he looked like, at least?" Levy asked.

"Yes, now that I do remember. He was so handsome, Levy." I swooned a little at the thought of his cute face looking down at mine.

"Kind of a shame you'll probably never see him again." Levy said. It was a shame.

"Yeah,it is." I said, suddenly wishing I gotten his name.

"Although, he did love you and leave you." Levy said.

"Yeah, he did." I agreed, wondering why he would of done that. I couldn't even remember falling asleep, let alone remember him leaving.

"Probably for the best." Levy said.

We hung up shortly after that and I decided to check my FaceBook for posts and pictures from last night. There was a lot. None of them were too embarrassing though. I was skimming through Mira's, the girl who threw the party, pictures when I stumbled across one of myself and _him._ It was us, kissing on the dance floor. It was so strange seeing it on my computer screen after living it not even twelve hours ago. I wanted to be back in that moment right now. Mira had tagged him. I knew his name at last. Natsu Dragneel, nice to meet you.

* * *

"So, did you send him a friend request?" Levy asked as we walked to school for the first time in six weeks, although it felt like much longer.

"No, course not." I said.

"Why not?" Levy demanded.

"Because he was tagged in the picture too which means he's seen it." I said.

"Okay, and?"

"He hasn't added _me_." I sighed.

"Maybe he hasn't been on FaceBook recently." Levy said.

"He liked the picture." I said.

"Wait, so he liked the picture but didn't add you?" Levy asked.

"Exactly." I said.

"I see." Levy nodded.

"I'm done thinking about Natsu Dragneel anyway. We had fun, but it's time to move on with my life." I said as we walked through the school gates.

"That might be easier said than done." Levy said.

"Why?" I asked, but I quickly noticed what she was staring at. Across the school's courtyard, sat on a bench with some other guys, was Natsu Dragneel. "Shit." I said, hiding behind Levy.

"You didn't know he went to our school?" Levy asked as we scooted through the court yard, trying to remain unseen.

"No, I wouldn't have slept with him if I did." I said.

A whole week went by and still no friend request. He must not like me, right? Maybe I was bad in bed. I mean why else would he sleep with me, leave before I woke up and then make no effort to talk to me at school? I know what you're thinking, _so much for not thinking about him_. It was Friday morning though and that meant pancakes for breakfast. I headed down stairs to the sweet smell of syrup in the air and there was my mum, placing a plate of stacked pancakes at the table for me. "Hey, mum." I said as I entered the kitchen.

"Good morning." She smiled as we sat at the table together.

"Where's dad this morning?" I asked, tucking in to my breakfast. My dad worked a lot. He's missed birthdays, anniversaries and almost every family meal. Because of this, my mum and I were as close as we could be. I love my dad, don't get me wrong, I just wish he was around more.

"Business meeting." Mum said.

"Of course."

"Any plans tonight?" She asked me.

"Not yet, but I'm still hopeful." I said.

"Well, your dad is taking me out tonight so you'll have the place to yourself." Mum said.

"Oh? What is this in aid of?" I asked.

"It's been a while since your dad and I last, you know?" Mum said.

"Ew, mum. Gross." I groaned.

Later that day, at school, I was sat with Levy in the library when my phone buzzed. I grabbed it from my pocket and checked it under the table.

"Who's that?" Levy asked with a grin.

"It was a FaceBook notification." I beamed.

"No way!" Levy gasped.

"Way!" I flashed her my phone.

 ** _Friend Request From: Natsu Dragneel_**

"He added you!" Levy yelled.

"He added me!" I squealed.

" _Ssssh"_ The librarian hushed us.

"But he finally added her!" Levy stood and cheered. I laughed and tugged on her school blazer, pulling her back to her seat.

"I've accepted it" I said "now what?"

"Now you wait for him to message you." Levy said.

"Can't I message him?" I asked.

"No way. He added you, you accepted and now the ball's in his court." Levy said. She was in a pretty serious relationship with an older guy, so I often took relationship advice from her.

"Right, got it." I nodded and put my phone back in my pocket. It was about two hours later when he messaged me. It read:

 ** _Message From: Natsu Dragneel_**

 ** _Can you meet me after school?_**

That's it? No _Hey how are?_ No _S_ _orry I had sex with you and then disappeared in to the night._ I replied with a simple:

 _ **Message To: Natsu Dragneel**_

 _ **Okay**_

He then sent me another message saying to meet him at the school gates. I was a little nervous, a little excited and definitely confused. What did he want? Oh god, what if he's meeting me to tell me he has an STD! Maybe that's why he disappeared on me, because he knew he had infected me with his disease. I'm too innocent to have an STD.

* * *

Three-Thirty finally rolled around and it was time to face Natsu. I had given Levy the slip and told her I was staying at school to revise, I just didn't want her knowing about Natsu and I until I knew what he wanted. He was leaning against the school gates with his shirt untucked and his blazer hanging out of his rucksack. His pink locks swayed gently in the wind, reminding me of how dreamy he was. _Okay, Lucy. Just play it cool_ I told myself.

"Hi." He grinned when I finally arrived at his side.

"You're not going to tell me you have an STD are you?" I blurted out without a second thought. _Way to play it cool, Idiot._

"What?" He seemed surprised, understandably really, but laughed anyway. "No, I just thought we could hang out."

"Oh, thank god." I sighed with relief.

"You thought I had an STD?" He asked. Wow, we are off to a great start here.

"Only because of the way you left that night." I said, blushing.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. Honestly, I didn't know what else to do." He said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I'm not the kind of guy that just sleeps with random girls at parties." He said. To be fair, if I really thought about it, had I been the one to wake up first I probably would have left too.

"And I'm not the kind of girl that sleeps with random guys at parties." I said. There was a moment of awkward silence before we both began smile.

"Maybe we can actually get to know eachother." He said.

"I'd like that." I smiled. And so the two of us walked home together. We didn't talk about the party or about us sleeping together. We talked about school, our plans for when we graduate, things like that. It was nice and we had a lot in common. Speaking to him was like reconnecting with an old friend, it just felt right. We made it to my house and I remembered my mum telling me it would be empty. "Do you want to come in? My parents aren't home." I said. Natsu laughed a little and I suddenly realised how that must have sounded. "I mean, not in that way! We can just watch a movie or something." I said quickly, trying to ignore the embarrassment burning across my cheeks.

"Yeah, sure." Natsu said, one side of his mouth curling upwards to form a small grin. We walked inside the house and I began to feel a little awkward. Do I offer him a drink? Should I show him around? Is it okay to take him to my room or will he think I'm suggesting something? Believe it or not, I didn't have a whole lot of experience with bringing boys home. Let's go with offering him a drink. "Do you want anything to drink? I'm pretty sure we have soda." I said, shrugging out of my blazer and leaving it on the back of the sofa. He looked over at me and smiled. "Soda sounds good." He said and followed me in to the kitchen. I got out two glasses and filled them with cherry soda whilst Natsu wondered around the room admiring all our family pictures that were hanging on the wall. "Here." I handed him his glass but he wouldn't take his eyes off of one particular photo. "You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's just" he paused for a second "that's Sting, right?" He asked, pointing to an image of my brother holding up his first ever football trophy. The image was from around ten years ago.

"Uh, yeah. My brother." I said, wondering why he'd be so interested in him.

"I played football with him. He was, like, my best friend." Natsu said.

"Wait a second." It was all coming back to me now. "You're not Flame Brain, are you?" I asked.

"The one and only." Natsu flashed me a big smile. When I was seven and my brother was eight he began playing for our school's football team. He'd come home every night and talk about how good this Natsu guy was at playing, but he'd complain that he was a bit of Flame Brain. When I asked him what that meant he told me that the guy was loud, reckless and would often pick fights with the other team. Then one day my brother brought this Flame Brain to our house.

 ** _Ten Years Ago_**

 _I was sat watching cartoons in the living room when my mum called me in to the kitchen._

 _"Lucy, could you come here for a minute?" She asked. I skipped to her side and she lifted me on to the work surface where she handed me a small cup of juice. "I wanted to let you know that your brother is having a friend round tonight." She said as she chopped some vegetables._

 _"Okay." I nodded._

 _"He's a little... excitable." She said._

 _"Oh, the Flame Brain." I said._

 _"Right" Mum laughed "the Flame Brain."_

 _"So, you're brother probably won't want to play with you tonight. But he's not being mean, he just wants to be with his friend. Okay?" My mum smiled._

 _"Okay." I smiled back. My brother was always telling me to go away and leave him alone, it was something that I was very much used to by now. So, I returned to my cartoons and waited for my brother and his friend to arrive. And it wasn't long before they did._

 _"Mum, we're home." My brother yelled as he entered the house. He was a little muddy, a few grass stains here and there, but it was nothing compared to the small boy behind him. Natsu, the Flame Brain. He was covered in dirt from head to toe. His knees were scraped and bloody and his shirt was ripped around the neck. He ran his hand through his hair, pulling out chunks of grass and throwing them back outside. I stared at him, feeling myself shrink in to the sofa cushions._

 _"Where's mum?" Sting asked me suddenly, I hadn't even noticed him approach me._

 _"Um, kitchen." I said. Sting disappeared in to the other room and I was left with Natsu. He kicked off his shoes and began walking towards me._

 _"What ya' watching?" He asked, leaning on the arm of the sofa._

 _"Dragon King." I said shyly._

 _"I used to love this show." He exclaimed and jumped on to the sofa with me._

 _"What happened to you?" I asked after a while of staring at his bloody knees._

 _"Oh, nothing. I just got in to a little fight with the captain." He said._

 _"On the other team?" I asked._

 _"No, our team." He said with a grin._

 _"But Sting's the captain of your team." I said._

 _"Yep." Natsu's grin grew even wider. Judging by their current appearances, I'd say Natsu didn't do too well in that fight._

 _"Boys are weird." I said, turning my attention back to the Television. Sting came back then._

 _"Lets go practise outside." He said, standing in our way of the television. Natsu sighed but did as my brother said. The two of them began heading outside when Natsu paused in the door way._

 _"Want to play?" Natsu asked me over his shoulder. I lit up inside, my brother's friends were never nice to me and especially never asked me to join them._

 _"No, she doesn't." Sting said before I could even answer for myself. I watched the two of them kick the ball around from by bedroom window and that is how I developed my crush on the Flame Brain._

 ** _Present Day_**

"I can't believe I didn't realise who you were sooner." I said.

"Me neither." Natsu said.

"You know, I think I have some pictures upstairs that you're actually in." I remembered all the albums my mum made dedicated to my brothers football, he was pretty good back in the day.

"Can we have a look?" Natsu asked.

"Of course. I'll go get them." I rushed upstairs and dug out the old things. They were pretty dusty now but the pictures inside were still in good condition.

So there we were, sat on my living room floor flipping through old photo albums. Just as I had thought, Natsu was in quite a lot of the pictures. He seemed like he'd never seen pictures of himself before, he was leaning in close and staring at each image for so long, it was kinda cute. We eventually came across an image of the two of us. In the picture we were both sat on my porch steps laughing about something. I looked at him and smiled.

"We used to hang out a lot." I said, thinking back to when we were younger.

"Yeah, I can't remember why this all stopped." He said, gesturing to all the pictures.

"I can." I said. Natsu looked at me then, waiting for an answer. I sighed. "You and Sting got in to a big fight in the middle of a match. I think it was the final match of the season, so it was pretty important."

"We fought all the time, though." He said.

"Yeah, you did. But this time you broke Sting's ankle." I reminded him.

"Oh yeah." Natsu's eyes widened as he nodded.

"Sting was demoted from team captain, since he obviously couldn't play, and you were given the title instead."

"I remember now." Natsu said with a sad expression.

"My dad tried really hard to get you kicked off the team for breaking Sting's ankle, but the coach said he couldn't afford to lose two players, since Sting quit the team." I explained.

"Wow, I can't believe I forgot about all that." Natsu said, leaning against the sofa and running his hand through his hair.

"Maybe you just blocked those memories out." I shrugged.

"Maybe." He said. There was this silence between us. It wasn't quite awkward, but it wasn't exactly comfortable either. I started closing the albums and stacking them on the coffee table. "What's Sting up to now a days? I never see him around." Natsu said.

"He started failing pretty much all of his classes last year, so my dad transferred him to a boarding school across the country." I said. Sting and I had what you would call a Love Hate relationship. We were pretty mean to eachother, but deep down we knew we loved eachother. I missed having him around the house, but he didn't have long before he graduated.

"Oh." Natsu said. Another silence.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"I just wish I could take it back." He said.

"Breaking Sting's ankle? That was ten years ago, don't worry about it." I smiled.

"But things could have been so different." He said, staring at me with a sadness in his eyes. He was right, things could have been different. Him and Sting could have remained best friends. Natsu and I could have ended up dating. Who knows what else?

"Don't dwell on the past. You can't change it. And you were so young, everybody does dumb stuff when they're young." I said in an attempt to lighten the mood. Natsu did a small laugh through his nose before standing up and helping me carry the albums back upstairs.

"So this is your room, huh?" Natsu asked with a grin as he pointed to my bedroom door, which I had painted _Lucy_ on in pink glittery paint.

"What gave it away?" I laughed, moving past him and opening the door. I sat end of my bed and kicked off my school pumps but Natsu remained in the door way. "You can come in." I said. So, he came in and sat next to me on the bed. We made small talk for a while, catching up on each other's lives. He told me he lives with his Grandpa and his younger sister, Wendy. Oh, and their cat, Happy. He told me he gave up football not long after sting did, apparently it wasn't as much fun without him. After a couple of hours we had both moved up the bed. He was laying on his back with his hand under his head and I was laying on my side, propped up on my elbow and facing him.

"Can I ask you something?" He asked.

"Go on." I said nervously.

"Why did you have sex with me at the party?" He asked, blind siding me. My stomach knotted and my eyes grew wide.

"Oh, um. I don't know." I shrugged. But he obviously wasn't happy with that answer.

"Come on. if you tell me, I'll tell you." He said with a grin.

"I don't know I just saw you and had this feeling, like, I needed to kiss you." I said, feeling my cheeks burn with embarrassment. Natsu laughed a little and nodded his head. "Why did you have sex with me?" I asked, trying to take the heat off of myself. He took a deep breath.

"I knew who you were." He said.

"What?"

"I saw you and straight away knew who you were. I spent the whole night trying to talk to you but you were pretty popular that night." He said and I felt myself blush even more. "In the end I decided to just walk right up to you and ask if you remembered me. When you kissed me I couldn't believe my luck. Lucy Heartfelia remembers me _and_ wants to kiss me? But I realised pretty quickly that you didn't remember me at all. That's the real reason why I left that morning. I guess I was disappointed." He said, looking straight up at the ceiling. I felt so bad all of a sudden. I wanted to hug him and apologise, but I couldn't speak. My mouth just hung open as I processed every word he had said.

"I'm so sorry, Natsu." I said. Knowing that I had hurt him like that killed me inside.

"Well, I better get going." He said quickly, jumping off the bed and heading straight out of the room. It took me a few seconds, but I too jumped off the bed and followed him down stairs. He was already opening the front door.

"Uh, wait!" I called out as he stepped outside. He turned and looked at me and I realised I didn't actually have anything to say. I just didn't want him to leave.

"I'll see you later, Lucy." He said before closing the door behind him.

One week passed and the only interactions Natsu and I shared were weak smiles from across the school court yard. After what he had told me, I just didn't know how to speak to him or what to even say. I had told Levy everything and she was constantly telling my to go over and talk to him, but it wasn't that easy. It was Friday afternoon when I finally heard from it. I was sat in English when my phone buzzed in my blazer pocket. I waited until the teacher was facing the board before pulling out my phone.

 ** _Message From: Natsu Dragneel_**

 ** _Are you going to the bonfire tonight?_**

Our school was throwing a bonfire on the beach to raise money for a new school gym. I was supposed to be going with Levy and her boyfriend, Gajeel.

 _ **Message To: Natsu Dragneel**_

 _ **Yeah, are you?**_

 _ **Message From: Natsu Dragneel**_

 ** _Only if I can take you with me_**

A huge, goofy smile spread across my face. He was finally making the first move. I nudged Levy, who was also on her phone, and showed her the message. She gasped excitedly.

"Say yes." She said.

"You don't mind?" I asked.

"No, of course not!" She said, loudly. The teacher turned and glared at the both of us. She clearly knew we weren't paying attention, but obviously couldn't be bothered to do anything about it since she turned back around and continued to write on the board.

"Okay." I smiled.

 ** _Message To: Natsu Dragneel_**

 ** _I'd love that_**

 ** _Message From: Natsu Dragneel_**

 ** _I'll pick you up at six_**

I practically ran home that night. I curled my hair and hunted for the perfect outfit, deciding on a white sundress and a denim jacket. My mum came in while I was finishing getting dressed and sat on the end of my bed. She was lonely with my dad working so much and Sting being away. I was the only person she had to talk to so she'd often just come in and chat to me. Even if I was doing home work.

"What time are you meeting Levy?" She asked.

"Actually, I'm going with someone else." I said, digging through my closet to find some sandals.

"Oh no, have you two fallen out?" She asked with concern.

"No." I found some strappy sandals and sat on the floor to put them on. "A boy asked me."

"What?" My mum asked excitedly. "Do I know him?"

"Um... No, I don't think so." I lied. It's pretty safe to say my parents weren't huge fans of Natsu after everything that happened with my brother.

"Well, what's his name?" She asked.

"Mum, stop asking me questions." I said, hopping to my feet and checking my phone. It was 5:50PM. I grabbed a little shoulder bag to hold my lip gloss and phone before heading downstairs, my mum following close behind. "He's picking me up at six so I'm going to go wait outside." I said.

"Oh, come on Lucy. I'd like to meet him." My mum said, following me to the door. She could not meet him. Not yet, at least. I turned on my heals, stopping my mum dead in her tracks.

"Mum, please. It's our first date." I said, although I didn't actually know if it was a date or not. My mum nodded then, although she did look slightly disappointed.

"Okay, I won't embarrass you." She said.

"Thank you." I smiled, gave her a hug and headed outside. Natsu was just pulling up outside the house.

"I would of knocked." He said as I got in the car.

"I know, but my mum was on the prowl." I said. Natsu laughed and pulled back out in to the road. I didn't even know he could drive. When he said he'd pick me up I thought he just meant we'd be walking to the beach together. There was something so attractive about seeing him behind the wheel, being in complete control. His lips curl in to a smile as he quickly looked at me out the corner of his eye and I realised I was staring. Forcing myself to look away, I began looking out the window.

"I didn't think you were going to speak to me again." I said leaning my head against the glass.

"Why'd you think that?" He asked.

"Because of the way we left things when we last spoke." I said.

"Lets forget about that." He looked at me quickly and smiled before turning his eyes back to the road.

We sat on the sand with our legs outstretched towards the sea. His hand was rested on top of mine and it was so nice to feel his skin against mine again. We were surrounded by our school mates and others that had decided to attend the bonfire, but it felt like it was just the two of us. We were talking and laughing while waiting for the sun to set. I wanted to kiss him. Badly. But I was afraid. We rushed things at the party and I had hurt his feelings. I was too afraid to make the move. But then he turned his head and smiled so sweetly at me.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, I just..." I trailed off.

"Just what?" He asked.

"Want Kiss you." I said shyly. My cheeks began to burn and I stared at the sand.

"Kiss me then." He said. I looked up. His face was inches from mine. He raised his hand and gently held my chin, pulling me in for a kiss. The bonfire erupted in to flames beside us as Natsu and I kissed eachother. It was a long, passionate kiss. The kind that you never want to end. But it did. He pulled away and leaned his forehead against mine.

"I really like you, Lucy." He said.

"I like you too." I said and we both began to smile. We enjoyed the rest of the bonfire with everyone else. Natsu bought us both some candy floss, I had pink he had blue. I even convinced Natsu to kick off his shoes and paddle in the sea with me. We wrote our names in the sand and Natsu found a pretty seashell to give to me. The beach eventually began to empty as the flames of the bonfire started to die down. Natsu and I headed back to his car. He immediately put the heating on since the temperature had dropped dramatically and my denim jacket didn't feel as warm as it had when we were sat by the fire.

"Do you want to come back to mine?" Natsu asked as he pulled out of the parking space. I checked the time. It was only 9:07PM.

"Sure." I smiled.

 _ **Text To: Mum**_

 _ **Hi Mum. Had a great time at the bonfire. Going back to his**_

 _ **house for a little while. Be home around 10 or 11 xx**_

There was this feeling between us, although it was more like a tension. Like, we both knew exactly what we wanted to do once we got to his house but neither of us would say it. I tried to convince myself that sex wasn't a big deal and that it didn't matter whether we were a couple or not. I just wanted him so badly. He parked the car and unlocked his front door for us.

"After you." He said, standing aside to let me in. "My Grandpa is asleep." He told me once we were both inside.

"What about your sister?" I asked and we both knew why I was asking. _Was anyone going to disturb us while we have sex?_

"She's at a sleepover." He said.

"Okay, cool." I sat on the arm of his sofa and we both just stared at one another. I felt my pulse quicken and I began breathing heavier than before. If things were heading the way I was hoping they were, we'd soon be entangled in each others embrace. His hands would be on my skin and his lips would be on my lips.

"Do you want anything to drink?" Natsu asked awkwardly.

"No." I laughed.

"How about a snack? I think there's Poptarts in the cupboard." He said.

"Natsu, get over here." I said with a smile. He dropped his keys on the table by the door and moved towards me. Finally it was happening again. He grabbed my waist and began kissing me again. It was faster than it was at the beach, more intense. "Lets go upstairs." I said in between kisses.

"Okay." He grinned and placed his hands under my butt, lifting me off the sofa. It surprised me and I began to laugh. " _Shhh_ " Natsu hushed me as we moved towards the stairs.

"Sorry." I grinned and tightened my legs around his waist. I moved in for another kiss, holding his cheeks in my hands.

"Uh, Lucy." He said from beneath my lips. I hummed in reply. "I can't see where I'm going."

"Right. Sorry, again." I said and moved my kisses down his neck until he had made it up the stairs, then it was back to his lips. He pushed open his door with his foot and closed it again by pressing me against it. It was like nothing I had imagined. With my back pressed against the door Natsu began kissing my shoulder slowly moving up my collar bone, causing my head to jolt back against the door. Then he carried me to his bed, not breaking away from each others embrace. My feet hadn't touched the ground since we'd been downstairs. The first time we had sex it was sloppy and my senses had been dulled by the alcohol. But not this time. I was stone cold sober and every inch of my body, every nerve inside me was so alive from Natsu's touch. I could barely gather my thoughts as he began removing my dress, starting by running his hand up my thighs. I watched my underwear hit the floor as Natsu's lips returned to my skin, leaving a trail of kisses from my hip bones to my inner thighs. It's safe to say that this was all followed by the best sex of my life.

I was exhausted and completely relaxed, laying in Natsu's arms beneath the covers.

"Hey." I whispered.

"Yeah?" He whispered back.

"Did you say there were Poptarts downstairs?" I asked. He laughed and I felt his breath tickle my neck.

"Do you want one?" He asked.

"I'd love one." I said. I felt him climb out of bed and I missed his body being against mine almost immediately. While he was gone I checked my phone. _Shit._ It was 11:34.

"Here you go, one chocolate Poptart." Natsu smiled as he reentered the room with a plate in each hand. He got back in beside me and handed me my plate.

"Nothing like a post sex Poptart." I laughed as we both took a bite.

"Do you want to stay the night?" Natsu asked then.

"Really?" I asked, surprised.

"Not if you don't want to." He said, casually taking another bite of Poptart.

"No, I do. I do." I said quickly. "But, do you want me to?"

"I wouldn't ask you if I didn't want you to." He smirked. I blushed a little.

"Okay. Sure." I smiled.

 ** _Text Message To: Mum_**

 ** _Hi, mum. Hope you don't mind_**

 ** _but I won't be home tonight_**

 ** _Love you xx_**

 ** _Text Message From: Mum_**

 ** _Okay, hun_**

 ** _Just use protection_**

 ** _Luv U x_**

 ** _Text Message To: Mum_**

 ** _Mum :/ x_**

A week passed and things were going great between Natsu and I. We weren't official yet but we spent almost all our time together, Levy was beginning to get a little jealous. Although, we always went to his house since I didn't want to introduce him to my parents yet. I had met his Grandpa and little sister though and they were lovely. His cat was pretty cute too. Friday morning though I woke up feeling awful. I put on my school uniform and tied my hair in a messy bun, I just didn't have the energy to deal with it. My mum was cooking her Friday morning pancakes again, but they didn't smell as good as they normally did. I sat at the kitchen table and rested my head on it.

"Oh, my. You don't look very good." My mum said as she placed a glass of orange juice on the table for me.

"Thanks, mum." I croaked.

"No, I just mean you're all pasty and sweaty." She said.

"I don't feel well." I said.

"Maybe you should stay home today. You've probably got food poisoning from the god awful takeout place you and Levy insist on going to." My mum said. Levy had been round the night before and we had gotten taken away, but it had never made us sick before. I decided to text her to see if she felt as bad as me but she replied and said she was fine.

"Nope, Levy said she's fine so it can't be the takeout." I said.

"Well, eat these and maybe you'll feel better." My mum placed a large stack of syrupy pancakes in front of me. One sniff and I was ready to throw up. I clasped my hand to my mouth as my cheeks filled with vomit and ran to the bathroom. Just as I was about done emptying my insides in to the toilet bowl, my mum appeared in the doorway with my phone in her hand. It was ringing.

"You okay?" She asked.

"No." I said, wiping my mouth.

"Well, someone's ringing you. It's probably Levy." She said handing me the phone. It was Natsu.

"It's Nathan." I said. Nathan was code for Natsu. Since my parents didn't exactly like Natsu I decided it was best for now if they didn't know it was actually him I was dating. So, I gave them a fake name. I'd tell them eventually, just not yet.

"Oh, okay. I'll give you some privacy." She said. But that obviously meant that she would just hide round the corner and sneakily listen to everything I say.

"Hello." I mumbled, pulling some tissue off the toilet roll and dabbing my face.

"You don't sound good." He said.

"I'm fine." I lied.

"Do you wanna sneak out to lunch today." He said.

"Sneak out?" I asked.

"Yeah. Go some place nice." He said. I had never snuck out of school before but Levy, on the other hand, did it all the time to have lunch with her boyfriend.

"Okay, yeah. That sounds nice." I said, even though I had been planning on just going back to bed.

"Great, meet me at the school gate at lunch." He said and then hung up the phone. I used the toilet to help me get back to my feet and headed back in to the kitchen. I knew going to school was the worst idea, but honestly I had gotten to a point where I would do anything just to be with Natsu.

"I better get going." I said, wiping the sweat from my face.

"What? But you're clearly sick." Mum said.

"I have important classes today, mum." I lied.

"Are you sure you're not just going so you can see Nathan?" She asked with a hand on her hip.

"No. Plus the walk will do me good." I said. But it didn't. In fact I threw up again on my way to school. But nothing was going to stop me. I was going to enjoy a lunch date with Natsu and maybe he'd finally ask me to be his girlfriend. I mean, lets face it, that's the real reason I was forcing myself to go. Every day we spent together I was hoping would finally be the day he asks me to be his girlfriend.

I sat in the back of every class and kept my head down at all costs. Levy, being the best friend that she is, fanned me with her work book to prevent a build of sweat on my cheeks. Teachers and other students were giving me funny looks and avoiding me like the plague. I can't blame them, I mean I looked like I had the plague. But finally, lunch time rolled around. Levy wished me luck as I made my way out to the school gates where Natsu was waiting, swinging his car keys around his finger. As I got closer my vision began to blur and the ground felt like it was spinning. I stared at me feet, willing them to walk in a straight line. But it was no good. _No, no no. Come on, Lucy. You've made it this far!_ I told myself. Natsu noticed my sudden loss of balance and ran to my side.

"Hey, you okay?" He asked, lifting my chin to look at me.

"I'm fine, lets go." I said, trying to force a smile but the words were just a mumble that even I could barely understand.

"You're burning up." He said, pressing his hand against my forehead. My knees grew even weaker suddenly and I grabbed his shoulders for support. "You should be in bed." He held my waist and watched me with concern as we began to slowly walk out of the school. We were approaching the schools car park when my legs gave out completely. My bare knees hit the ground hard as I fell face down in the rubble. I had never fainted before in my life but it was scary, losing complete mobility of your body like that.

When I came back around I was in Natsu's car on my own. I looked out the window, squinting from the brightness outside, and realised we were still in the school parking lot. I looked down and noticed I had my seat belt on. _How did I get here?_ I thought. Then the driver's side door opened and Natsu got in the car.

"I'm glad you're awake. That was pretty scary." He leaned over and softly placed his hand behind my head, his thumb stroking my hair. "How you feeling?"

"I'm okay." I answered, enjoying his hand in my hair.

"I just let the school know that I'm taking you home, since you wouldn't let me take you to the nurses office." He said.

"I wouldn't?"

"You don't remember me trying?" He asked.

"No." I said and I really didn't.

"So, will you let me take you there now?" He asked.

"No. I just want to go home." I said.

"Okay." He sighed, taking back his hand and starting the engine. "Do you want the window open?" He asked. I shook my head before resting it against the cool glass. So, he opened his instead. The breeze felt good. I closed my eyes and began drifting off to sleep when I felt Natsu's hand on my thigh. "Hey, Luce. Maybe you should try to stay awake, just until I get you home."

"I'm tired." I groaned.

"I know. Just stay awake for a few more minutes for me." His voice was so calming. It made me feel so at ease in a situation that probably should have made me panic. About five minutes later, Natsu was parking outside my house. He leaned over and undid my seat belt before getting out the car and opening my door. He crouched at my side. "Can I carry you?" He asked.

"I can walk." I said.

"I know. I just don't want to take any chances." He said. He was looking down at my knees and I noticed then that they were bloody and grazed.

"Okay." I sighed, not having the energy to argue. He turned his back and I climbed on, resting my arms over his shoulders and my legs around his waist.

"You should of let me taken you to the nurse." He said, almost sounding upset with me.

"It's just food poisoning. I'm fine." I said, resting my head against his back. Natsu unlocked the door with my keys and carried me inside. He kicked the door shut behind us and carried me upstairs, not for the first time. He gently lowered me on to my bed where I immediately fell back in to the pillows. It was a relief to be back home. I laid still as Natsu gently removed my school pumps.

"Okay." He said, pulling the covers over me. "Before you fall asleep, can I get you anything?"

"No, thank you." I shook my head slowly.

"Then, by all means, close your eyes." He smiled.

"Thank you, Natsu." I said before falling asleep.

* * *

I woke up a few hours later feeling much better than I had earlier. I grabbed my phone to check the time. It was 05:28 PM. Natsu was sadly gone, so I rang Levy. "Hey, what happened? You never came back to school!" She demanded as she answered the phone.

"I passed out." I said.

"Are you serious?" Levy asked.

"Yep. Poor Natsu had to carry me home." I said.

"Say no more. I'm on my way." And with that said, Levy hung up the phone. I laughed a little. Ten minutes later she was at the front door. I let her in and the two of us sat on the sofa.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, it's weird. I feel pretty much fine now." I shrugged.

"Hmm." Levy hummed, looking me up and down.

"What?" I asked her.

"So, it was just this morning you felt ill?" She asked.

"Yeah..."

"Huh." She nodded.

"Just say what you're thinking." I said.

"No, no it's nothing." She smiled.

"If you say so." I said with a narrowed brow. "Do you wanna' watch a movie?" I asked.

"Uh, yeah. sure." Levy said, but she seemed a little lost in her thoughts now. I got up from the sofa to check out my mum's collection of chick flicks while Levy sat behind me looking at her phone. "Hey, Luce?"

"Yeah?"

"When was your last period?" Levy asked me.

"What? Why?" I asked, standing and turning to face her.

"Just wondering because we're normally in sync, you know?" She said. I thought about it for a second.

"Actually, now that you mention it I am pretty late." I said, before turning my attention back to the DVDs.

"How late?" She asked.

"I don't know. Maybe a week." I said.

"Okay. So, don't get mad at me," Levy said and I once again turned to face her, "do you think you're maybe... Pregnant?" She asked.

"What!" I practically yelled.

"I said don't get mad." Levy sat up straight and held her hands up defensively.

"Sorry, I just... No, I'm not pregnant." I said. Even just talking about it seemed crazy.

"How do you know, though?" She asked.

"There's just no way I'd be pregnant. I've been safe every time." I sat on the sofa besides Levy, feeling myself getting nauseous at even the suggestion that I could be pregnant.

"They don't always work though, do they?" Levy moved closer to me and handed me her phone. It was open on a webpage for early pregnancy symptoms.

"Levy, come on. This is ridiculous." I handed her back the phone but she wouldn't take it.

"Just read it." She said. Humouring her, I read through the list of signs and symptoms. My stomach knotted more and more with each word that I read, because they were all things I had been experiencing lately.

"No way. There's just no way." I said quietly.

"Lu?" Levy placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed it tight. "Do you want me to get you a test?"

I looked at her, feeling in some kind of shocked state. "Okay, but just to prove to you that I'm not." I said, trying to convince myself that there was nothing to worry about and that the test would come out negative for sure.

"Okay, I'll be back in twenty." She smiled and left the house.

I felt so scared. Like, when Levy returned she was bringing with her something that could potentially end my life as I knew it. I couldn't bare to think about it, any of it. So I got out my phone and rang the one person I felt desperate to speak to.

"Hey, feeling better?" Natsu asked when he answered the phone.

"Yeah, thank you." I said weakly. I didn't know what to say to him. _Hey, Natsu. Just letting you know that there could potentially be a baby in my stomach_ _that partly belongs to you._ Yeah, I don't think that would go down too well.

"Glad to hear it. I was worried." He said. "I thought I'd better leave before your parents came back, though."

"Oh yeah. My parents don't like you." I suddenly remembered.

"Thanks for reminding me." He laughed a little.

"Sorry, it just made me think of something." I said. If, and that's a big if, I was pregnant it would all be made so much worse by the fact that my parents hate the father.

"Are you sure you're okay? You seem a little off." Natsu said.

"I'm fine."

"Do you want me to come over?" Natsu asked.

"Yes. But, you can't right now." I said. Natsu laughed again.

"Why's that?" He asked.

"Levy and I are doing something important." I said.

"Oh? Well, I'll leave you to it then. Text me later." He said.

"I will." And then we both hung up. Levy arrived back at the house shortly after that. I opened the door and saw the shopping bag in her hand. My stomach immediately began to twist inside me.

"When are your parents home?" Levy asked as her and I headed to the upstairs bathroom.

"My mum should be home at eight and my dad probably won't be home until, like, eleven or something." I said.

"Okay. You ready?" Levy asked as she pulled a rectangular box out of the shopping bag.

"No." I said, taking the box and pulling out the stick.

"What ever it says, everything'll be okay." Levy smiled. So, sparing you the personal details, I peed on the stick and waited the three minutes that the instructions told us to.

"You won't leave me, right? If it's positive." I said to Levy. The two of us were sat on my bathroom floor, leaning against the bathtub. Levy's phone was on her lap with a timer counting down til the results were ready and in my lap was the test.

"What?" Levy asked.

"You'll still be my best friend even if I'm a pregnant teen?" I asked.

"Oh, Lu. I'd be your best friend even if you were pregnant and it came out an alien." She said. I laughed a little.

"Thanks, Lev." I smiled. Then Levy's phone began to vibrate, indicating that the three minutes had past. Levy and I looked at eachother, neither one of us knowing the right thing to say.

"Do you want me to look first?" She asked.

"No, it should be me." I said. I held my breath and picked up the test. My hands were shaking, my mind was racing and I had never felt more terrified in my entire life. This was a defining moment and as my eyes met with the results my heart stopped.

"Well?" Levy asked.

"It's positive. I'm pregnant."

* * *

 **AN:**

 **It has been a long, long time since I posted anything! Honestly, life got pretty hard for a while. I won't go in to the details but it's taken me a long time to want to write again. This is a new story with new ideas since I wanted to start fresh. Maybe one day, if you guys want me to, I will finish my other stories but I really want to focus on this one for now. Any way, I hope you guys are well. Thank you so much for reading the longest chapter I have ever written and I hope you'll stick around for more :)**

 **Also, if you're wondering about the ages and their grades at school: Lucy is seventeen and in grade 11 and Natsu is 18 and in grade 12 which is how it worked where I went to school in the UK :) Just let me know if you have any questions :)**


	2. One Heck Of An Adventure

"This can't be happening." I said as I stared at the positive pregnancy test in my hands.

"Are you okay?" Levy asked.

"No." I said. I got up from the bathroom floor and ran to my room where I climbed under my bed covers. Tears were rolling down cheeks as I began crying uncontrollably in to my pillow.

"Lucy, wait." Levy followed me and sat on the edge of the bed.

"My life is over." I cried, still clinging to the pregnancy test.

"Don't say that." Levy said.

"But it is, Levy. I'm seventeen and pregnant." It physically hurt to say it out loud like that. How could this be happening to me? I had done everything right. I used protection every time and only slept with people I felt a genuine connection with. I didn't sleep around, I wasn't easy. So, why was I pregnant? It just wasn't fair.

"A baby doesn't ruin your life, it could be just the start for you. You'd be a great mum." Levy said.

"Yeah, when I'm in my late twenties with a husband and a steady career." I replied.

"Well, you can always... get rid of it." Levy said. The thought hadn't even crossed my mind. But, as Levy suggested it, I immediately knew that was something I could never do.

"No, I won't do that." I said, sitting up and facing Levy.

"I don't just mean abortion. You could put it up for adoption." She said.

"I can't even think about what do to right now." I cried a little more and wiped away the makeup stained tears with the back of my hand. But somewhere inside I knew adoption wasn't an option either. I couldn't live my life knowing I had a child somewhere.

"Well, give yourself some time to process the news. Then you need to talk things out with Natsu." Levy said.

"Oh my god. Natsu. I've ruined his life too." And with that statement came another flood of tears and sobbing.

"Hey, it takes two tango. You didn't conceive this baby on your own, so don't for a second blame yourself." Levy said and I knew she was right, but it didn't make me feel any less guilty.

"How do I tell him?" I sniffed.

"Ask him round tomorrow and-"

"-He doesn't come here." I interrupted.

"Okay then. Go to his house and just tell him straight." Levy said.

"He's going to hate me." I said.

"If he does, forget him. I'll be the dad." Levy said and I couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Thank you, Levy." I leaned forward and gave a tight and long hug.

"What about your parents? Are you going to tell them?" Levy asked.

"Not yet. I just can't face that right now. I need to talk to Natsu first." I said.

* * *

It was dark. The lights were off and I had shut myself in my room. Levy had left not long after I had taken the test, I had asked her to. My mum was home and I told her I was going to bed, but sleep was the last thing on my mind. I sat on the floor, resting my hands on my stomach. It was so hard to imagine that there was a baby growing in there. I stood and walked over to my mirror, staring at my small frame. I wouldn't be able to hide this mistake forever. Soon this little thing inside me will grow. My body will change. I'll be a different person. I'll be a mum. Silent tears began rolling down my cheeks as I pictured what was my life would be like from now on.

Saturday morning finally arrived, bringing an end to one of the longest nights of my life. I hadn't a slept a wink. My night had been spent walking around my room trying to fight off tears and panic attacks. I couldn't wait any longer to tell Natsu. It was only 9:08 AM when I decided to go. I quickly showered, put on some fresh clothes and headed out the door without even telling my mum I was going. She was still asleep anyway. I was practically running to Natsu's house. When I arrived at his door I was out of breath and sweaty. I knocked on his door, excited to see him and nervous to tell him. But his younger sister, Wendy, answered the door.

"Lucy? What are you doing here?" She asked. She was still in her pyjamas and I peered inside to see cartoons playing on the TV. I smiled a little, wishing I could go back to a time when I spent my Saturday morning in my pyjamas watching cartoons.

"I was hoping to speak to Natsu." I said.

"Is everything okay?" She asked me. I thought about being honest with her and telling her 'no, I wasn't okay'. But I didn't.

"Yeah. There's just something I need to tell him." I said.

"Okay. Well, he's just gotten out of bed. I think he's in bathroom." She said, moving aside to let me in the house.

"Thank you, Wendy." I smiled before rushing upstairs. The bathroom door was wide open and there was no sign of Natsu. His bedroom door was shut, so I awkwardly stood outside it and knocked.

"I'm just getting dressed." He called out from behind the door.

"It's Lucy." I said.

"Lucy?" I heard him say and not even two second later he was opening the door. He wasn't dressed at all. He was wearing nothing but a pair of tight, blue boxers and an oversized white T-shirt. His hair was a complete mess, all ruffled and hanging in his eyes from where he had been sleeping on it. Seeing him like that, so rugged and yet so attractive, I wanted nothing more than to sleep with him. Right there and then. I was over come with an explainable urge. I found myself staring at him, speechless.

"Lucy, you okay? What are you doing here?" He asked. But I didn't respond, at least not with words. Instead, I grabbed his face in my hands and kissed him. I could feel he was surprised and kind of tense at first, but he quickly relaxed in to it and kissed me back, I took a step forward and kicked the bedroom door shut with my foot as we continued to kiss.

"Lucy." Natsu said from beneath my lips. I was already wriggling out of my pants and trying to get him out of his. I had never moved this quickly before. It was as though I wasn't even in control of my own body. An uncontrollable lust was pushing me forwards, making me pull Natsu's shirt over his head and toss it across the room, followed by my own. Hooking my finger in to Natsu's boxer's, I pulled him towards the bed.

"Lucy, wait." Natsu said, but I ignored him and pulled him in for another kiss. As my lips met his I moved my hands to my bra and unhooked it, slipping it off and letting it drop to the floor. I was now fully nude and Natsu was suddenly not okay with it. He grabbed my shoulders with a tight grip and pushed me back, holding me at arms length. I looked up at him in surprise and he was staring right back in confusion. "Will you slow down? My sister is downstairs." He said.

"Please." I said, grabbing his wrists and removing his hands from my shoulders. I took a few step forwards, bringing myself back in closer to him. "Just one more time." I whispered, wrapping my arms around his waist.

"One more time? What are you talking about, Lucy?" He asked.

"You're not going to want me any more." I said. And just like that, I was crying.

"Hey, what's going on with you?" He asked gently. I took a deep breath and looked up at him. Once again, I held his face and pulled him in for a kiss. He didn't push me away this time. He kissed me back, running his hands up my back and in to my hair. He knew what I needed, so he gave it to me and we had sex one more time. It was slow and gentle and I didn't waste a second of it.

I was sat between Natsu's legs, resting against his chest. Several minutes ago he had asked me again me again if I was okay, but I was still trying to figure out how to answer that.

"Lucy." Natsu said. I took a deep breath then turned to face him, resting my legs around his waist. "You need to tell me what's going on with you. What was all this about?" He asked, brushing my hair behind my ear.

"I'm so sorry, Natsu." I quietly cried.

"Sorry for what?" He asked anxiously.

"I'm pregnant." The words fell out of my mouth and hung in the air for what felt like a life time. I didn't know how to break the news to him, but there must have been a better way than doing it like this.

"You're pregnant." He repeated. His face was so hard to read. He seemed to be in some kind of shock. His eyes were wide and his mouth hung open.

"I found out last night." I said.

"So, the important thing you were doing..." He began.

"I was taking a pregnancy test." I said.

"Why didn't you tell me last night? I would have been there in a second." He said, still seeming hard to read.

"I didn't think it would come out positive." I said. There was a long silence between us. We weren't even looking at eachother. I ended up climbing out of bed and getting back in to my clothes. "You probably need some time to process." I said as I finished dressing myself.

"I just can't believe it." He said, staring in to space.

"You don't have to be involved." I said standing at the end of his bed. The words just came out without me even thinking.

"What?" He looked hurt almost.

"I just mean, if you don't want to be involved I won't force you to be." I said, thinking I was saying the right thing. The kind of thing a guy wanted to hear in this situation.

"I would never do that to you or the baby." He said.

"I'm sorry I just didn't want this to ruin _both_ our lives." I said.

"This isn't exactly how I planned to have kids, but I would never just act like the kid wasn't even mine. I can't believe you think that I would." He said, throwing the covers off himself and climbing out of bed. He was angry but I never meant to make him be. I took a step back as he put some pants on.

"I didn't mean it like that. I just wanted you to have a way out." I said.

"I don't want a way out." He said, staring at me from across the room.

"You don't?" I asked in genuine surprise. Again, he seemed hurt. Honestly, though, in a situation like this there was no right thing to say.

"Is that why you were desperate to have sex with me? You thought I'd find out you were pregnant and never speak to you again?" He asked, slightly raising his voice.

"I'm sorry." Was all I could say. I knew Natsu was a good guy, I really did. But I wasn't making him feel like one.

"You know what, you're right. I do need some time to process this." He said, opening his bedroom door and ushering me out of the room.

"Wait, you're making me leave?" I asked as I stood in the hallway.

"I think that's best right now." He said.

"But I... We should talk" I pleaded.

"Please, Lucy. Just go." He said before shutting his bedroom door in my face. I don't know exactly how I was expecting him to react, but it was not like this. I choked back my tears and told myself that his anger was understandable and that I should respect he needed some time and space. But that didn't make it any easier on me. Things had been going so perfectly and now my whole world was shattered. I clasped my hand over my mouth and hurried down the stairs.

"Are you okay?" Wendy asked, looking over her shoulder at me from the sofa. I knew if I opened my mouth to speak I would fall in to a flood of tears. So I nodded my head and let myself out. I walked home slow. I wasn't in a rush to be anywhere any more. I kept replaying the morning in my head. Every mistake I had made was so clear to me now. I shouldn't have blurted it out the way I did; I shouldn't have insulted him by implying that he'd want to leave me and the baby; I shouldn't have left. I should have stayed and forced him to talk things out with me, but I just didn't have it in me. If you shut a door in my face, I'm not the kind of girl to open it back up again. Natsu will speak to me when he's ready. I mean, we had nine months to talk things through.

I opened the front door to my house to find a large suitcase waiting inside. "Uh, mum?" I yelled as I shut the door behind me.

"Oh, there you are." My mum. She was hurrying down the stairs, clipping some earrings in to her ears as she went.

"I, uh, went for a morning jog." I lied.

"That's not like you." She said.

"Just trying to keep fit. Anyway, what's with the suitcase?" I asked. Now was not the time to be going away. I had to stay here and figure things out.

"Your father is taking me away for our anniversary." My mum swooned. I had completely forgotten about their anniversary. Dad usually held no expenses when it came to their anniversary, though. If he wasn't taking her away he'd buy her an extravagant gift. Although, judging by those earrings, I'd say this year he's done both.

"Where are you going?" I asked, trying to hide the fact I'd forgotten what day it was.

"To a spa in the mountains for four luxurious nights." My mum smiled.

"That's great." I breathed a sigh of relief. Having my parents gone for four nights was exactly what I needed to figure things out on my own. It gave me time to figure out how I'd break the news to them too.

"Happy to get rid of us?" My mum asked, pretending to be hurt.

"Never." I smiled and gave my mum a long, tight hug. I made the most of it since soon there would be a bump in the way.

My mum and I watched trashy TV for a couple of hours before my dad arrived home from work to whisk them both away. I stood on the porch and waved them off, immediately feeling a little more relaxed. I didn't need a mountain spa for luxury, I just needed a parent free home for a few days. My dad left me some money for food so I ordered a pizza and watched a couple movies. When it started to get dark out I decided I'd enjoy a nice bubble bath. But as I filled the tub with my usual bubbles baths and baths salts, I couldn't bring myself to get in the water. "Could this hurt the baby?" I asked myself, dipping my hand in the hot, bubbly water. I sat on the edge of the bath and began researching on my phone. _Can I have a bubble bath while pregnant?_ The answer is no. Apparently it can effect the blood flow to your baby, which isn't good obviously. I reached in the water and pulled the plug. As I watched the water drain away, I couldn't help but find it metaphorical. Like I was watching my life slowly going down the plughole thanks to this baby. There was also something else I felt though. It was like a sense of pride. I had protected the baby from something that could have harmed it. Looking down, I held my stomach and smiled. "I won't let anything hurt you." I said, feeling a sudden warmth inside me. I had only found out I was pregnant the night before, but was I already becoming attached? I mean, I knew it probably wasn't even a living thing yet, just a tiny embryo, and yet in that moment I felt as though it was. I caught myself smiling in the mirror. "Maybe this won't be so bad." I said to myself, before heading back down stairs.

I wash munching on the left over crusts from my pizza when there was a sudden knock on the door. Assuming it was my parents and they had just forgotten something, I opened it without hesitation. "Natsu?" I was surprised, he knew he wasn't supposed to come to my house.

"Hey, are your parents home?" He stood on the porch with a small gift bag in his hand.

"Uh, no. They've gone away actually." I said.

"Can I come in then?" He asked. He seemed nervous and lacking his usual confidence.

"Yeah, of course." I smiled and moved aside for him. I shut the door and turned to find him already making his way upstairs. So, I followed him to my room where we ended up sitting on the floor, facing eachother with our legs crossed. There was a moment of silence. I watched him closely as he searched for the right thing to say.

"I'm sorry for over reacting earlier." He said eventually.

"Natsu, you didn't overreact." I said. "It's a tough situation, it's understandable that you'd get mad."

"I shouldn't have taken it out on you though." He said.

"Well, I shouldn't have said the things I said. I'd never want to offend you. You know that, right?" I placed a hand on his knee and squeezed it tight.

"I know. It's just, what you said, it really hit home with me." Natsu sighed heavily.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"My dad wasn't a good guy, not in the end." He took another deep breath and I sat quietly, letting him open up to me like he had never done before. "My mum got sick when I was young. She couldn't do much of anything, she couldn't really go anywhere. I was young so staying home with my mum all day didn't bother me, but my dad hated it. He'd disappear for hours, even days sometimes. He was cheating on her, spending his time with women that didn't need help walking from one room to another." Natsu explained. I watched his eyes fill with tears, trying to fight back my own. "It just got worse, everything just got worse. My dad started drinking. He became violent towards my mum and I. I tried to protect her, but I was just a kid." Natsu's voice cracked and my heart began to break for him. I stilled stayed quiet though and let him continue. "One day, when my dad had been particularly nasty, my mum sat me down. She said that when she was gone I'd need a partner. Someone to help me fight the bad. I didn't really get it at the time, but she was talking about my dad. She didn't want to leave me alone with him." He said.

"So, she had Wendy?" I asked. Natsu nodded.

"Even though she knew she wasn't strong enough, even though she knew my dad had been sleeping around. She kept sleeping with him, to give me a sibling. My dad was furious. He said he never wanted another kid so why the hell should he have to look after it when my mum died."

"That's awful." I said quietly.

"My mum died hours after having Wendy. My dad never even showed up to the hospital. It was just my Grandpa and I. She knew she was dying and she knew my dad was a monster, so she used the last of her strength to give me a sister so I wouldn't have to be alone." Natsu finished as tears began rolling down his cheeks.

"Oh, Natsu. I'm so sorry." I threw myself forwards and held him tight as he quietly cried over my shoulder.

"That's why I got angry earlier. I never want to be as bad a father as my dad was. I'd never leave like he did." Natsu said.

"Oh god, I know that. You'll be the best dad to this baby." I said, rubbing his back as we continued to hold eachother. "I'm so sorry I made you feel like this." I said as we eventually broke apart.

"You had no idea what I grew up with. It's not your fault." He said, casually wiping the damp from his eyes.

"Thank you for sharing that with me." I said. I knew it must have been hard.

"You're the first person I've ever told." He said.

"Honestly, Natsu, you have nothing to worry about. I have no doubt in my mind that you'll be an amazing dad." I said.

"Well, I did get the little guy something." Natsu smiled, holding out the gift bag.

"Little _guy_ , eh?" I smiled.

"Or girl." Natsu said, raising his hands in defence. "Here." He handed me the bag and gestured for me to open it.

"Oh my gosh, you didn't." I said as I opened up the bag.

"It's cool, right?" Natsu smiled.

"Cool? This is amazing." Inside the bag was a soft plushy of the _Dragon King_ that Natsu and I used to watch when we were younger. It was a red dragon with a green underbelly and shiny wings and eyes. "Where did you get this?" I asked in astonishment.

"It was actually mine. My Grandpa bought it for me when I was younger and I loved it so much I kept it on a shelf and made sure it stayed in mint condition." He said, looking rather proud of himself.

"I can't take it from you." I said, feeling a little guilty.

"I want our baby to have it." He smiled. Wow, those words hit me hard and out of no where. I took a deep breath and stared down at the plushy. "What? What's wrong?" Natsu asked.

"Our baby." I repeated quietly, feeling rather emotional.

"Huh, yeah. It is kind of weird when you say it out loud." Natsu said.

"We're going to be parents." I said.

"It's going to be one heck of an adventure." Natsu said with a small grin. He seemed so at ease with the whole thing, I couldn't help but feel a little more relaxed too.

"An adventure, I like that." I smiled.

"Me too." Natsu agreed.

Natsu and I were cuddled on my bed together staring up at the ceiling. It felt good to be in his embrace again and it also felt good to have him spend the night at my house for a change. We'd had been discussing things about the baby like potential names and what colour to paint the nursery. I wanted yellow and Natsu wanted blue.

"You know, I felt a real connection to this little guy earlier." I said. Natsu had been saying "Little Guy" so much that I just ended up going with it too.

"Oh yeah?" Natsu smiled.

"I was about to have a bath and then out of no where I thought, 'What about the baby?' It turns out you can't have a bath when you're pregnant and I felt like I was protecting him for the first time." I said.

"See, you're a great mum already." Natsu said, resting his hand on my stomach. I was about to say something else when a loud smash was heard from downstairs. Both Natsu and I bolted up right and looked at eachother.

"What was that?" I asked in a whisper.

"A break in?" Natsu got out of bed and tiptoed to my bedroom door, which was open just a crack.

"Oh my god, what do we do?" I asked in a panic.

"Do you have a weapon in here?" Natsu asked.

"A weapon? Shoot, I must have left all my weapons downstairs." I said.

"Really? Sarcasm now?" Natsu said dryly. The front door swung open then and banged against the key table that's kept beside it. Whoever was breaking in obviously wasn't fussed about trying to be quiet.

"Oh god." I breathed as footsteps could be heard down stairs.

"Okay, you know what? This'll do." Natsu grabbed my hair curling wand and headed out on to the landing.

"Wait." I whispered.

"Stay there." Natsu mouthed before slowly heading downstairs wielding his hair curler. I crouched at the top of the stairs listening out for any kind of noise to be heard from the darkness. Then, to my surprise, the downstairs lights flickered on.

"Sting?" Natsu said as he stood poised at the bottom of the stairs. And with that, I hurried down stairs to see for myself. Sure enough, stood in kitchen doorway with an apple in his hand, was Sting.

* * *

 **AN:**

 **Hey guys, thank you so much for reading this chapter. I really hope you enjoyed it and are excited to have big brother Sting home, cause I sure am ;) Let me know what you think and I'll speak to you guys in the next chapter.**


	3. All Good

His apple dropped to the floor and rolled towards mine and Natsu's feet. As far as I was aware Sting was supposed to be at boarding school right now, so what was he doing breaking in to our house? I watched Stings face turn from shock to anger and I took a step in front of Natsu to separate the two of them. They hadn't been shy of fighting eachother in the past and things were probably no different now. "Sting, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"Me? What's _he_ doing here?" Sting hissed through gritted teeth.

"It's not what you think." I said, but honestly it was a lot worse than he was probably thinking. I took a quick look at Natsu behind me, who was staying surprisingly quiet. He didn't look in shock or angry in any way, he was just standing there.

"What I think is, I come home to find my family has changed the locks on me and then my sister comes down the stairs with the one guy I cannot stand to even look at." Sting took a heavy step forwards.

"He, uh... We were just-" I tried to explain myself, but I couldn't. There was nothing I could say that wouldn't send Sting in to a complete rage.

"You have ten seconds to get out of my house." Sting said to Natsu over my shoulder.

"No, Natsu. You don't have to go." I turned my back on Sting to face Natsu.

"I should go." Natsu said to me.

"No, I don't want you to." I said. I knew I wasn't helping the situation, but I hated that Sting felt like he could always boss everybody around.

"Lucy." Sting's hand gripped my shoulder and pulled me backwards, away from Natsu. I stumbled back and grabbed the sofa to keep me on my feet.

"Hey. Don't push her around like that, man." Natsu said, now with an unmissable anger running through him.

"Ten, nine, eight." Sting began to count down. Natsu took another step forward and the two boys were now nose to nose, staring at eachother with complete disdain. There shoulders were risen and their fists were clenched, each of them ready to throw the first punch. "Seven." Sting said, raising his voice. Natsu peered over Sting's shoulder and looked at me. It was like he was waiting for me to tell him what to do.

"Maybe you should go." I said sadly. Natsu turned his attention back to Sting and began to smile slightly.

"You better get used to this face 'cause I'm sticking around this time." Natsu said. And with that, Stings fist rose in to the air. I hurried forwards and grabbed his wrist before he could hurt Natsu in any way.

"Get out." Sting hissed again. Having had his fun, Natsu turned and left the house. It was now just Sting and I. As soon as the door shut behind Natsu, the mood in the room immediately became lighter. For me at least. Sting, on the other hand, was still angry. He yanked his wrist out of my grip and span on his heels to look at me. "What the hell, Lucy." He said.

"I'm the one who should be angry here." I said with my hands on my hips. Sting raised his brow and laughed at me. "You smash a whole through the door and then ruin a perfectly innocent night between friends." I huffed.

"Perfectly innocent? It's 1 AM and the two of you were upstairs in your bedroom." Sting pointed out.

"Okay, so to the naked eye it might look a little bad but I swear we weren't doing anything." I said and it was the truth. We had just been laying there talking until Sting burst in.

"You remember who that is, right? Flame Brain, the guy who ruined my life." Sting said.

"He didn't ruin your life." I sighed. I had heard this rant from Sting so many times now.

"He was the reason I couldn't play anymore." Sting said, raising his voice again.

"Sting, he broke your ankle. He didn't cut off your foot. You could have continued to play once your ankle healed but you chose not to." I said, raising my voice to match his.

"He took the captaincy from me." Sting said.

"So? You could have won it back eventually." I said.

"I can't believe you're taking his side." Sting did one of those angry laughs that people do emphasise their disbelief.

"I can't believe you're still this upset over something that happened ten years ago." I said.

"The day he broke my ankle was the day everything went downhill for me, you know that." Sting said. I rolled my eyes. Aren't the younger sisters supposed to be the overly dramatic ones?

"Look, Sting," I began.

"Don't say it." Sting shook his head, he knew what was coming.

"I really like Natsu." I said.

"Goddammit!" Sting kicked the back of the sofa, but it didn't bother me. I was used to his tantrums by now.

"He's going to be around for a long, long time." ( _nine months at least)_ "So I really need you to try and put this whole football thing behind you." I said with a small smile.

"No way." He said.

"Please, Sting. For me?" I asked.

"Sorry, Lucy. I just can't let you be with him." Sting sighed before slinking away and heading up the stairs.

"Can't let me? I don't need your permission, Sting." I yelled up the stairs.

"Yeah, you do." He yelled back before shutting his bedroom door behind him. I took a deep breath to calm myself and took a seat on the bottom step.

"What the hell just happened?" I asked myself as I stared at the broken glass on the floor.

* * *

The next morning I decided to lay in, since I wasn't all too excited to have Sting around the house. I headed downstairs at around 12PM. He'd cleared up the glass at least, although there was still a whole in the door. I wondered in to the kitchen to find Sting making a sandwich. He didn't say anything to me, he didn't even look at me. I poured myself some cereal and sat at the kitchen table. "So, what are you doing here?" I asked after a few more minutes of silence.

"I live here." Sting said trying to be clever. He joined me at the table and gave me his signature grin.

"You know what I mean." I said.

"I couldn't take it anymore, okay? Boarding school my ass, that place is a straight up prison." He said.

"So you ran away? How did you make it all the way back here?" I asked.

"The guy I shared a room with always had his mate, Rogue, visit. I made pals with the guy and told him I wanted out. So, one night he pulls up outside the school, I sneak out the window and the two of us hit the road." Sting explained, looking rather smug like sneaking out of school was something to be proud of.

"Mum and dad are just going to send you straight back when they get home." I said.

"Trust me, I won't be welcome back there." Sting said.

"You're an idiot." I said, shaking my head.

"I'm actually going to need a favour from you." He said, pulling the crust off his sandwich and chucking it in to the kitchen bin. I watched him congratulate himself with a small fist pump.

"You need a favour from me? After last night you can forget it." I said.

"What happened last night?" Sting asked innocently.

"I hate it when you do this." I huffed.

"Do what?" He grinned.

"You do something completely out of line, piss everybody off, then go to bed and act like you did nothing wrong." I said.

"I never do that." He lied.

"You know what, Sting? As far as I'm concerned, you're not even here." I said, getting up from the table and heading for the front door. If only ignoring him was that easy though. He immediately followed and grabbed me by the wrist.

"Lucy, wait." He said.

"No, I have to meet someone." I said. It was a lie though. I just wanted to get away from him.

"Please, just do me this one favour." He begged.

"Only if you apologise to me for last night." I said. His eyes widened a little but I could see he was considering it.

"Ugh." He moaned and flung his head back as if he was in severe pain.

"Fine. See ya'." I shrugged.

"Okay, okay!" He said. I turned to face him with a small smile. "I'm sorry for..."

"For?" I urged him on.

"I'm sorry for being a dick last night." He said, hanging his head low.

"It's not perfect but it'll do." I smirked.

"Can you please help me now?" He asked, looking rather defeated.

"Fine. What is it?" I asked.

"I need you to ring the school, pretending to be mum, and tell them I won't be coming back." He said.

"You're joking." I said.

"Not joking." He said.

"Sting! I can't do that. What if they start asking me questions?" I panicked.

"Just tell them I wasn't happy and you're going to make other arrangements." He said.

"Other arrangements?" I asked with a narrowed brow.

"Please, Lucy?" He asked me and I could hear the desperation in his voice. He really didn't want to go back. I sighed heavily, feeling myself being swayed by his sad eyes.

"Okay, fine!" I waved my hands in the air and began mentally preparing myself for the awkward phone call ahead.

Sting ran to grab the phone and excitedly began dialling the school's number. He handed me the phone and the two of us waited for them to answer. My stomach was churning. Everything inside me was telling me this was a bad idea, but I didn't want to be the reason he was sent back to a place he hated.

"Willow Hill Private School, how can I help?" A woman answered after several rings.

"Oh, yes. Hello." I stuttered.

"Tell them you're mum." Sting whispered.

"Uh, right. I'm Sting's mother." I said, trying to put on my poshest accent. Sting rolled his eyes.

"I'm sorry, who?" The woman asked.

"Sting Heartfelia. This is his mother, Layla Heartfelia." I said.

"Ah, yes. We've been expecting your call." She said.

"You have?" I asked.

"Well, yes. I assume you're calling about your son running away again." She said calmly.

"Again? So, this isn't his first run away?" I asked, shooting a disproving look at Sting who was clearly regretting this decision.

"Apologies Mrs Heartfelia. Do you not remember our last phone call?" The woman asked me.

"Yes, yes. I remember now. These things tend to slip a busy woman's mind." I laughed.

"Wrap it up!" Sting ordered, but I waved him off.

"Of course, Mrs Heartfelia." The woman agreed.

"Please, remind me. How many times now has my son run away?" I asked.

"This would be the fifth." The woman told me.

"The fifth? Oh my." I said watching Sting begin to panic. I knew Sting. He did things like running away just to get attention. He'd run away once and then find something else to do. But to run away five times? That's not like him, he must really hate this place.

"If this continues, we won't have any other choice than to expel him from our school. There is a long list of students who would happily take his place." The woman said.

"Yes. I understand. Well luckily for one of them I will be removing my son from your school as of today." I said, shooting Sting a thumbs up.

"I'm sorry, what?" The woman asked, briefly losing her posh manner.

"If it wasn't clear after his first runaway that your school is not the place for my son then surely by now it's painfully obvious that he does not belong at Willow Hill." I said.

"Willow Hill is one of the best schools in the country. I'll remind you, Mrs Heartfelia, that we were doing you a favour by enrolling your son. No other school will accept him, let alone tolerate him." The woman said coldly.

"Excuse me? Any school would be lucky to have Sting. And if you're school was so great, why on earth would my son have escaped from it five times? That's right, I said escaped. Because as far as I've head, you're school is more like a damn prison." I began to raise my voice. Maybe being pregnant brought out my maternal instincts, because I suddenly felt nothing but rage towards this woman for being so rude towards Sting. I know he isn't the best student, but he's my brother and no stuck up woman is going to bad mouth him to me.

"What are you doing? Hang up!" Sting tried to grab the phone from me but I pushed his hand away.

"We'll send you you're final bill at the end of the month. Consider Sting officially removed from our school." The woman said.

"That's all you have to say, huh? Be prepared for the worst Yelp review of your life, lady."

"Goodbye, Mrs Heartfelia."

"Good-fricking-bye to you." I said and ended the call.

"What the hell was that?" Sting asked angrily.

"What? I got you out of that school, just like you asked." I said.

"There's no way she believed you were mum. You called her school a damn prison, Lucy!" He ran his hands through his hair and began pacing the floor.

"She believed it, okay? She said she's sending us the final bill and that you're officially removed from the school." I said with an accomplished smile.

"Wait, really?" Sting turned to me.

"Yep." I nodded.

"No way."

"Way."

"Oh my god! Thank you, you stupid idiot!" Sting pulled me in to his arms and gave me a tight squeeze, which wasn't like him.

"You're welcome." I said as he released me. A part of me worried that he'd feel my bump, but then I realised I didn't even have one yet. I'd start to show soon though, better keep everyone at least an arms length away from me. "Anyway, I have to go." I said, flattening the wrinkles in my shirt.

"Go where?" Sting asked, narrowing his brow.

"Out." I said.

"Let me come with you, I wanna celebrate." He said.

"Not a chance. You need to fix the whole you smashed through the front door." I said as I made my way out to the the front porch.

"Hey, Lucy." Sting called out as hopped down the porch steps.

"Yeah?"

"Now that I'm back, I've got my eye on you." He said, leaning against the frame of the front door. I rolled my eyes, knowing that he wasn't lying. He would be watching my every move from now on, especially since he now knows how close I've gotten with Natsu. Hiding my pregnancy is starting to feel like an impossible task.

I had left the house with no actual plan, I was just trying to get away from Sting, but I soon found myself heading towards Natsu's house. He hadn't contacted me all morning and I was starting to worry that Sting had scared him off. Just like usual, Wendy answered the door. "Lucy!" She exclaimed with a smile.

"Hey, is your big brother home?" I asked as Wendy stepped aside to let me in the house.

"Yeah. He's making lunch in the kitchen." She said and showed me the way. Natsu was stood at the stove flipping pancakes. He wasn't dressed yet, he didn't even have a shirt on, just a pair of pyjama shorts. "Lucy's here." Wendy announced as we entered the room. Natsu turned around and smiled. He placed the frying pan back on the stove and made his way over to me. He held my shoulders and ran his hands down my arms. "You okay?" He asked. I could only assume he was referring to last night.

"Yeah. Everything's fine." I said with a small smile.

"He didn't push you again did he?" Natsu asked, looking me deep in the eye.

"No, no. He'd never do that. Last night just got a little out of hand." I reassured him. Sting would never intentionally hurt me, I knew that for sure.

"What are you two talking about?" Wendy asked. I guess we had forgotten she was still in the room.

"Oh, nothing." I smiled at her and took a step back from Natsu, breaking away from his touch.

"Wendy, why don't you lay the table? For three of us." Natsu said as he returned to the stove. It was weird, their Gramps wasn't home again. I still hadn't met him. Every time I came by he never seemed to be home. I hope I get to meet him soon.

The three of us enjoyed our lunch together. The atmosphere at Natsu's house was always so much nicer than at mine. I always felt so much easier in Natsu's home, I wished I could live here with him. "Can we hangout tonight?" I asked Natsu while we washed the dishes at the sink and Wendy watched cartoons in the next room.

"I wish I could." He said. "But I'm starting my tutoring job tonight."

"I didn't know you did tutoring." I said.

"The school said I'd have a better chance of getting into my first choice college if I had something like tutoring on my school record." He explained. It was weird hearing him talking about college. Maybe it was wrong of me to assume, but I had thought neither of us would be going to college after having a baby. I mean, I probably won't even graduate high school, let alone be going to college. Was I going to be looking after the baby alone whilst Natsu left for college, only coming home for the holidays? This was obviously something we needed to sit down and discuss, but now wasn't the time so I just smiled and nodded. "You okay?" He asked, obviously noticing my smile was slightly forced.

"Yeah, I'm fine. All good." I lied.

I left Natsu's house not long after that. I didn't want to go home but I didn't really have anywhere else to go. I walked as slow as I possibly could as I made my way back home. "At least he's fixed the door." I said to myself as I unlocked it. The television was on and Sting was sat on the sofa with a girl, his arm wrapped around her shoulder. Seriously? He's barely been back a day and he already has a girl in the house? " _Ahem."_ I loudly cleared my throat and gave the door a swift kick shut behind me. Sting and whoever this girl was jumped and little and turned their heads towards me. I immediately recognised the girl. "Levy?" I gasped.

* * *

 ** _AN:_**

 ** _Thank you so much for reading this chapter! I'm sorry you had to wait so long for it, I will hopefully be updating this story much more frequently from now on. Let me know what you think and if you have any hopes for this story :) Thanks again for reading ***_**


End file.
